Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
USA will not renew a temporary license that eased sanctions on the transportation sector of Venezuela if there is no progress in agreements with Nicolas Maduro’s regime about free and fair elections this year, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.
“In the absence of progress by Maduro and his representatives in terms of implementing the provisions of the roadmap, the United States will not renew the license when it expires on April 18, 2024,” the spokesperson said.
The United States lifted sanctions on Venezuela last year after the Barbados agreements to give the Maduro regime incentives to hold free elections this year. However, this lifting of sanctions was temporary and conditional on progress in the electoral process in Venezuela.
Given the lack of progress, at the end of January, the United States had reimposed sanctions on the gold sector and has warned that if the situation does not improve, it will allow the oil and gas licenses that had been granted to expire on April 18 in Venezuela.
Following the January decision, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela ratified the disqualification of the opposition presidential candidate, Maria Corina Machado, which prevents her from competing in the elections scheduled for the second half of this year.
Last week, the Chavista regime confirmed its participation in a private meeting with representatives of the United States, which took place in Mexico, in which they discussed the sanctions and the “agreed schedule” for easing these restrictions.
In a statement, Caracas explained that, during the meeting, its delegates denounced the “non-compliance of the North American Administration with the agreed schedule for lifting sanctions”, some of which were made more flexible in October, for a period of six months that will expire on next Thursday.
Likewise, they presented the “unanimous consensus” of Venezuelan society to demand the “absolute lifting of all sanctions” against the Caribbean nation, which, they assured, affect the “right to a full and peaceful life that violates international law and United Nations letter.
“We were emphatic in rejecting any form of interference in the affairs of Venezuela,” they added.
On Friday, the White House confirmed that a United States delegation held a meeting with representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to discuss the electoral process in the South American country.
The meeting took place a few days before the deadline for relief from sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas that the Joe Biden Administration approved after Chavismo and the opposition agreed on an electoral route in the Barbados Accords.
“We can confirm that a meeting took place. The purpose was to express our concerns about Venezuela’s electoral process,” the agency said. EFE a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, without providing more details about the meeting.
(With information from Reuters and EFE)
